How to Trim Your Budget: Simple Money-Saving Tips for 7 Major Expenses

You may realize that you need to cut back on expenses in order to meet your financial goals, but where should you start?

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By Linda Descano, Citi's Women & Co. and Manilla.com

Jun 26, 2013

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To begin, grab your recent credit card and bank statements and take a snapshot of the current state of your finances — how much is coming in, and how much is going out. Figure out how much you spend every month on essentials like food, utilities and housing, and how much you're spending on discretionary expenses like entertainment, dining out and gifts.

You may need to recalibrate what you've come to view as a "must-have" versus a "nice-to-have" and make the hard decisions about which expenses you can reduce — and which you should eliminate all together. To help you've get started, we've compiled some of the easiest ways to cut back on some of the major expenses that fall under the "must-have" category:

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Food: According to a 2012 analysis by the Natural Resources Defense Council, the average American family of four ends up throwing away some $2,275 a year on unused food. To save on groceries, make a weekly menu, not just a shopping list. Then shop only from what's on your menu — it will save you time and money, and you'll waste less. The more you stick to your menu plan and incorporate using leftovers into your dinner routine, the more you'll save.

Gas: To save on gas, look for online tools that can help you find the best prices in your area. The GasBuddy app, for example, shows you gas prices from all the stations in your area, as well as the distance to each. Or download an app that helps you measure fuel economy by recording your driving data to keep track of how economically you're traveling; some will also alert you when it's time for a tune-up to avoid costlier repairs down the road.

Energy Costs:Turn down your thermostat. Heating accounts for the largest portion of your utility bill, with space heating the biggest component (45%), according to the U.S. Department of Energy. While you may think of 68°F as the ideal temperature, consider setting your thermostat back a few degrees to save between 5% and 20% in energy costs. Or use a "smart" thermostat that you can program to lower the heat automatically at night or during the day when your house is empty.

Vacation: If taking your family on vacation this year is more than your budget can handle, plan a staycation instead. But set up some ground rules to make sure that you have time to relax: unplug your devices, let your calls go to voicemail, and put your household chores on hold so that you can spend time doing things in your town or within driving distance that you never have time to do on weekends full of activities and errands.

Beauty: If you regularly color your hair, try to stay as close as possible to your natural hair color and enhance it, don't change it. If you go no more than two or three shades in either direction, or highlight leaving your base color as a lowlight, you'll be able to stretch out salon appointments and spend less on touch-ups between visits.

Medication: Whether you pay full price for your medication or use an insurance co-pay, you can save up to 80% by going generic. Generic drugs often come from the exact same plant as their more expensive brand-name counterparts, since many brand-name pharmaceutical manufacturers own generic companies as well. But don't just assume your doctor knows which drugs have a generic counterpart; ask your pharmacist.

Car care:Doing your own car maintenance isn't just good for your wallet — it helps you learn about how your car works. Being familiar with what you see under the hood will also empower you to investigate and ask the right questions should something go wrong. To learn how to check on some of your car's most common maintenance items, check out Women & Co.'s Guide to DIY Car Care.

One final note: Don't just look for ways to cut back on the major expenses eating up most of your monthly budget — look for ways to make the money you spend work harder, like using credit card rewards points to help cover major expenses. Citi ThankYou members, for example, can redeem points for gas cards — and ThankYou Premier cardholders can earn more towards future purchases when they use their card at gas stations, supermarkets ands drugstores.